If Shadow Survived
by TheArtistGirl
Summary: What if Shadow didn't die in Sonic X? My interpretation of what it'd be like if Shadow survived the incident on the ARK. Chris offers for Shadow to stay with him at his house, Shadow wonders if he'll be accepted, and he starts to learn what it means to be a friend and have friends. I do not own Sonic X! Or it's characters! All material goes to SEGA and other owners!
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: Weird Life

A boy with brown hair stared out of the window of Space Colony Ark as he had just seen a bright white light flash. 'Did they do it?' he wondered to himself, shielding his eyes, 'Did they beat it?' This boy was Christopher "Chris" Thorndyke, and he had been friends with the world's fastest hedgehog, Sonic, and his friends. However, recently a black hedgehog resembling Sonic had brought him up to Space Colony Ark, content on destroying all life on Earth. However, Chris made it so Shadow would see the good in people and realize his deceased friend Maria's true wish. However, to stop the creature that was to collide with the Earth, Sonic and Shadow turned super, and were doing battle with it. However, the Ark's jerk motion gave off the signal to let everyone aboard it know that it was no longer going to hit Earth. Everyone on board cheered and jumped for joy! They were safe!

"Alright, Sonic!"

"Shadow was amazing!"

"We're not gonna die!"

"Hooray!"

People were filled with glee! Even the people back on Earth were happy! Then, the elevator opened behind them. Chris turned around and saw Sonic. The azure hedgehog was no longer in his super form, and he had a bit of frown on his face. Sonic walked over to Chris. "W-where's Shadow?" the boy asked his hedgehog friend. Sonic didn't answer. He looked down and shook his head slowly. Chris felt a lump form in his throat and tears find their way into his blue eyes. Sonic handed Chris a ring that he knew belonged to Shadow. Chris held the small, golden ring in his fingers, a small tear dropping on it.

"I believe that's mine."

Everyone turned their heads in shock. The voice sounded familiar! "Hey, it's-" Knuckles began, "Shadow!" Chris exclaimed, running towards the black and red hedgehog. "Chris," Shadow whispered shakily, "We did it. Sonic and I did it." Chris smiled and nodded.

Soon, all of them were back on Earth-thanks to Shadow and Chaos Control-and Shadow had decided to take Chris up on the offer to stay with him and Sonic at his house. "I hope it won't be too much trouble to have one more guest…" Shadow whispered so only he could hear it.

When they got to the Thorndyke mansion, Ella, Chris' mom and dad, and his grandfather Chuck were already there waiting for them. "I made sure to take care of Master Chris for you." an Asian man with black hair and eyes said, bowing to Chris' mom and dad. "Oh good!" mom said, glomping her son, "Mommy's so happy to see you, sweetpea!" Chris groaned as his mom was hugging him way too tight. "I know, but can you please loosen your grip, 'cuz I can't breathe!" Everyone-except Shadow-laughed. After more hugs and kisses came, Ella noticed Shadow. "Oh, and who's this?" she asked. Shadow just crossed his arms and looked away. "Oh," Chris began, grabbing Shadow's arm and pulling him up front so everyone could see him. "This is Shadow. He's the one who helped Sonic keep the ARK from colliding with Earth." Everyone who had never seen him before leaned closer. "He… looks a lot like Sonic!" Chuck exclaimed. Shadow flinched, bared his teeth, and shifted his eyes the other way.

Suddenly, a little black boy with brown eyes stepped into the doorway. "Chris! Sonic! Amy! Everyone!" he exclaimed, dropping the basketball he was carrying, "You're back!" he jumped over to Chris and the others. "Hey, Danny. How are ya?" Sonic asked, high fiving him. "Cool, you?" Sonic gave a thumbs up. Shadow looked at them with confusion. "This is going to be a weird life."

Soon, everyone was introduced, explained to, and now they were sitting in the living room. Shadow was on a lounge chair. "So, Shadow?" Ella began, Shadow looked up. "How well behaved are you? Er, no! I mean, where have you come from? Or…" she stuttered, not knowing quite what to say. Shadow stood up, his arms still crossed. "I'll happily tell you about myself… if you'll listen." he said, opening his ruby red eyes. Everyone nodded. "Good…"

"I was created on Space Colony Ark 50 years ago by Eggman's grandfather: Professor Gerald Robotnik. I was made to help humanity as its Ultimate Lifeform, and also to help the Professor's granddaughter, my best friend… Maria. She had a disease called NIDS-or Neuro Immuno Deficiency Syndrome-so, Gerald created me to help her. I'm ageless and immortal, so, I'll never die or age. Maria was like a sister to me, and we did everything together. I promised her I would help get her to Earth once she was cured of her illness, like she wanted. However, the government found that I might've been too dangerous to help humanity. So, they invaded the ARK to try to rid of me. I tried to escape with Maria, but she sacrificed herself to save me. She wanted me to protect all life instead of take revenge for her. As for how I behave, I'm actually very calm. However… I must warn you that I have a short temper, so, don't try and make me mad. I'm very good at cleaning, so, if you ever need any help with anything like that, just ask me, okay? I'm smart, strong, fast, and I have powers too. I have super-strength, super-speed, I can use Chaos Control to teleport from place to place,-and if I'm in possession of a Chaos Emerald, I can go further- I can turn super like Sonic can, I can do a Homing attack like Sonic, and I'm a quick thinker too."

Everyone was speechless. All of this was a whole lot of information to take in about just one hedgehog. It'd taken them awhile to get used to Sonic and his friends, but now they had to get used to someone unlike themselves over again. "Did I say something wrong?" Shadow asked, taking a step back. "No, it's not that." Chuck said, waving his hands, "That's just one heck of a story to take in!" he added, rubbing his chin. Shadow nodded in understanding. Chris smiled. "Well," he began, standing up, "I for one think you're going to love living here!" he took Shadow's hand in his. Shadow gasped and looked up at the 12-year-old. Chris smiled at him warmly; Shadow was confused. Ever since Maria had died, no one has ever been nice to him like that before. Soon, everyone nodded in agreement. This acceptance made Shadow do something he never usually does: Smile.

* * *

Done! New story done!

Shadow: Nice. However, I would recommend you start to work on My Time in Hinamizawa a little more.

I know, I know! I just need to think of some more storylines for it. I'm usually not very good at doing mystery fanfictions, but I'll try.

R&R


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Acceptance…

A week had passed since Shadow came to leave with Chris and everyone else, and he started to feel a little more comfortable. However, each day when he would walk down the sidewalk, people would stare at him. Although he's been feeling comfort, there's another thing that he wants to feel: Acceptance.

Amy noticed Shadow's mood one day and decided to investigate. "Hey, Shadow!" she greeted him cheerfully. He looked up at her with a bored look on his face. "Hello…" he droned. Amy frowned. "Well THAT'S no way to greet a friend!" Shadow shot her a "really?" glance. "Who said we were friends?" he asked. Amy got frustrated. "Geez! This is what i get for trying to be nice!" the pink hedgehog grouched, crossing her arms. Now Shadow felt bad; he never meant to hurt Amy's feelings. "Hey," he said, standing up, "I didn't mean to hurt your feelings." Amy's expression softened into a small smile. "Oh, it's okay, Shadow." Amy said, grabbing Shadow's hands. Shadow blushed a little. He remembered:

Flashback… 50 years ago…

Shadow had just snapped at Maria that day, so, he had hidden under the Professor's desk in his lab. He started to cry a little. He heard footsteps approach the desk. He thought they might belong to the Professor, coming to do his daily work in his lab. However, he saw a pair of small blue shoes from under his hiding spot. 'It's Maria…' he thought. He kept his breathing down so she wouldn't hear him. "Shadow! Come out, I promise I'm not mad at you." the blonde girl called. Shadow's ears perked up at this remark. 'She's not mad?' he wondered, starting to come out. Maria heard him and turned around to see him. Relieved that he was okay, Maria swooped down and hugged him. "Maria? You're not mad at me?" Shadow inquired, hugging her back. Maria pulled away and nodded. "It's okay, Shadow…" she whispered, taking his hands in hers. Shadow blushed and smiled.

End of Flashback…

Shadow smiled at Amy. "I don't think I've seen you smile that much, Shadow." Amy pointed out. Shadow chuckled slightly. "Yeah… It's been a while." he added to the chuckle. Amy smiled even wider.

Then next day…

Sonic had just gotten back from his daily run when Chuck caught him. "Hey, Sonic?" the elder man asked. "Yeah, what is it?" Sonic answered. "Can you pick up Chris from school?" he asked. Sonic nodded.

Just on his way out, Sonic spotted Shadow up in a tree. He was displaying himself on the long branch, seemingly relaxing and sunbathing. "Hey! Shadow!" Sonic called. Shadow woke up and looked down to see who had disturbed his slumber. "Faker…" he grumbled. "Ya know, that "Faker" business is really getting on my nerves, Shadow." Sonic retorted. Shadow just shrugged in response. Sonic was about to walk away, but then he got an idea. "Hey, Shadz!" he called up the tree, Shadow shifted his ruby red eyes towards his blue counterpart. "I'm going to pick Chris up from school," azure said. "and I was wondering if you wanted to come with me." Shadow looked up at the sky. He thought about it for a while. Then, he gave Sonic a mental sigh. "Alright, what the heck." he jumped down from the high branch and landed in the soft grass. "Great! Race ya!" Sonic said, dashing off. Only a blue streak and a cloud of dust. Shadow smirked. "Chaos Control!"

A supersonic second later…

At Chris' school, the children were just busting through the door, eager to get home for the weekend. Chris and his three friends, Helen, Danny, and Francis, were close behind the line of people. "So, Chris, you said that you have a new friend at your house." Helen-a girl with blonde hair and blue eyes who was in a wheelchair-said. Chris nodded. "Yeah, I already met him!" Danny added in, spinning his basketball on his finger. "Yeah, his name is-"

"Sonic!"

Danny looked at Chris with a quizzical look on his face. "Sonic? I thought his name was-" Chris shook his head and said, "No, look! It's Sonic!" and he pointed to the azure hedgehog. Sonic was standing there waiting for his human friend, Shadow right behind him. Helen noticed him. "Hey Chris, is that the guy you told us about?" the blonde girl inquired to him; he nodded and dashed over, his friends following closely behind. "Hey, Sonic! Hey, Shadow!" Chris greeted both hedgehogs. Sonic greeted him back happily, but Shadow just waved slightly. Chris' friends caught up with him and noticed Shadow. "Hey, you look like Sonic!" Francis-a girl with red hair and green eyes-exclaimed, stepping towards him. Shadow just replied his signature, "Hmph…" Helen rolled up to him. Shadow looked at her with wide eyes and a gaped mouth. Helen smiled and said, "Hi, I'm Helen. Nice to meet you." warmly. Shadow was still in a trance with Helen's features and personality. She looked just like… "Hey, are you alright?" a voice broke him out of his state. "Huh? What? Who?" the ebony hedgehog whipped his head back and forth. Sonic laughed at Shadow's reaction. This action was returned with a punch in the face from Shadow! "Oh, you wanna go?" Sonic asked playfully, getting up in a fighting position. Shadow sighed. "Alright, I could use the entertainment." Shadow shrugged, preparing himself. "Bring it on!" Sonic yelled, dashing for his rival. Shadow Chaos Controlled away, causing Sonic to fall forward on his nose. "Hey!" he yelped. Shadow was just behind him. "Smooth moves," he mocked. Then, he jumped in the air, did a front flip, and landed in front of the fallen hedgehog. "but my moves are smoother!"

Chris and his friends were shocked, amazed, and dumbfounded all at the same time at Shadow's skills. Chris had seen them before, but he still felt amazed at all the power that Shadow possessed. "You're quick Shad…" Sonic whispered. Then, without warning, he grabbed ahold of Shadow's legs, and pulled him down! Shadow was now on his back, Sonic standing and towering above him. "But I'm quicker!" azure mocked. Shadow's face was blank for a while, but then his lips curved into an evil grin. "Heh," he scoffed, "Quicker…" He then tripped Sonic with his foot! Sonic felt Shadow give him an uppercut instead of letting him fall to the ground. "But not smarter!" Shadow snarked. Sonic smirked and chuckled mockingly. "I say we stop talking and start the real action!" the blue blur said, standing up; Shadow smirked and agreed.

Shadow swung his arms upwards and spun around to do his Homing Attack! Sonic did the same after realizing what his black and red counterpart was about to do. They both attacked each other with great force! However, since they had used the same attack, they both ricocheted off of each other. "A Homing Attack is a great move, but it appears it leaves us at an impasse." Shadow states. "For once, I agree!" Sonic nodded. Sonic dashed towards Shadow yet again, but this time he had a fist full of pain to deliver to his ebony twin. Shadow noticed this and prepared himself. As soon as Sonic got into range, Shadow grabbed his blue counterpart's fist-which made Sonic gasp-and flipped him overhead. Sonic, being quick and nimble, did a Spin Dash to break his fall. Then, he dashed away. "Huh? What?!" Shadow wondered, looking around. He didn't see him! "Think fast!" a voice called. Shadow gasped and exclaimed. However, before he could react, he felt hands grasp his ears and throw him to the ground! Shadow looked up and saw Sonic doing his trademark smirk. "Nice move.." he whispered, standing up.

Then, the two hedgehogs were locked in hand-to-hand combat! Sonic tried to punch Shadow square in the face. However, the ebony hedgehog moved his head to the left and simply put Sonic's fist down. Sonic was awestruck, so he didn't see Shadow's own fist raising to hit him. Ergo, Shadow gave Sonic another uppercut! Sonic quickly recovered, though. Soon, they were both aiming to punch each other, missing each other several times. Finally, Shadow decided to kick him in the stomach, sending him flying! "I was right, this is entertaining." ebony chuckled. Sonic got up and said, "Likewise." in a snarky tone.

"Hey guys?" Chris said after a while. Both hedgehogs looked at the ginger boy. "Can we go home now?" he inquired, smiling nervously. Both hedgehogs looked at each other, then back at Chris. "Okay." they both said in unision.

Shadow had been behind the walking group, smiling. 'I think I'm starting feel acceptance.' he thought.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: Child's Play

On a rainy Saturday, everyone in the Thorndyke mansion was BORED! Sonic-ironically enough-didn't feel like running around that day, Amy wanted to bake something but didn't have any ingredients to do so, Cream wanted to play outside and splash in puddles but the rain was too heavy, everyone was drop dead BORED! Shadow was reading a magazine titled "Tiger Beat", and that confused everyone. "Hey, Shadow?" Chris asked ebony. Shadow shifted his red eyes up to the ginger boy to let him know that he was listening. "Why are you reading Tiger Beat?" Shadow shrugged his shoulders in response. Chris sighed in boredom.

Suddenly, the door burst open! Everyone-except Shadow-jumped in response to this noise. They looked up and saw Chuck struggling to close the door, a shopping bag full of what appeared to be movies in his left hand. Chris and Tail rushed over to him, helping him and his cargo to not get blown away with the wind. After getting the door closed, they all asked him eager questions like: "Where were you?", "What have you got?", and more like those! Chuck just laughed slightly, removed his slicker, and put his umbrella in the holder. Afterwards, Shadow too became curious of the contents of the bag, so he set down the Tiger Beat magazine and came over to investigate. When he did, he saw the movies were titled "Child's Play", "Child's Play 2", "Child's Play 3", "Bride of Chucky", "Seed of Chucky", and "Curse of Chucky". Shadow gasped for he knew these movies. "These are all the Child's Play movies," ebony stated out. Chuck heard this and walked over to Shadow. "Yes, I decided to buy all of them. You know, so we could watch them." he explained. Shadow looked up at him. "What? You know these movies are all rated R, right?" the ebony and crimson male pointed out, "Not to mention it's like one of the scariest movie series of all time?" he added. Chuck shrugged. "I know," he added to the shrug, "but if some of us don't wanna watch them, then that's perfectly fine." Shadow looked at the grown man with an indescribable look on his face. Chuck gulped. Shadow finally spoke. "Alright… but don't say I didn't warn you." then he returned to his spot on the couch to read Tiger Beat. Chuck sighed in relief.

So, everyone decided to watch all the movies. All except for Cream who decided to go take a nap. When the movie started up, everyone's hands started sweating. "So, what's this movie about?" Sonic inquired. Shadow had finished reading his magazine and decided to start watching too. "It's about a murderer who gets killed in a toy store. However, before he dies, he transfers his evil soul into a Good Guy doll, gets sold to a mother of a six-year old kid named Andy , who gives the doll to him as a birthday present." he explains to the azure hedgehog. "That's… quite the interesting story…" Amy said, stretching her words. Shadow nodded.

In the movie:

" _Oh, mom! Thanks!" Andy exclaimed to his mom, hugging her. Andy's mom, Karen, hugs her son back._

 _Later, Aunt Maggie is babysitting Andy who's asleep in his room. She hears many noises and starts to get scared. Soon, after she turns around after hanging up the phone with Karen, she gets hit in the face with a hammer! This causes her to fall out of the window, landing on a van. She dies._

Shadow sighed mentally. "You just can't have a tragic "character falls out the window to his/her death" without said character falling on a big vehicle that should in no way be parked next to this building." the ebony hedgehog added to the sigh. Everyone slowly turned their heads towards Shadow with "Really?" expressions glued to their faces. Shadow didn't notice at first. "You sound like those idiots from CinemaSins," Chris said. Shadow looked over to the ginger boy. "'Scuse me?" he said in a smart tone. "Never mind." Chris said, shrugging. Shadow shrugged too.

In the movie:

 _Karen noticed something fall out of the package. Batteries. She looked at the box that Chucky came in, and she noticed it said "Batteries included". Chucky has been talking without any batteries in him! Or has he? Maybe those were just extra batteries and he already had some batteries in him? She had to be sure. Karen walked over to the doll cautiously and quietly. When she got to him, she picked him up, opened up the back of his overalls so his battery pack was revealed. She opened up the battery pack to see that it was empty! Suddenly, Chucky spun his head around swiftly and said, "Hi, I'm Chucky! Wanna play?" Karen was so scared she dropped him, making him roll under the couch._

This caused some of the people to scream when Chucky had spun his head around. Sonic even jumped into Shadow's arms. The azure hedgehog didn't notice whose arms he was in until Shadow cleared his throat. Sonic turned his head slowly towards Shadow. He blushed and bared his teeth, jumping out his rival's arms. "What are you all looking at?!" he snapped, trying to keep his pride and ego up. Everyone looked back at the TV, pretending to be innocent of not seeing anything. Shadow walked over to the spot behind the couch where Chris was sitting.

In the movie:

 _Karen had thrown the lit match into the fireplace, causing the flames to start roaring. She lifted the red-headed doll high above her head. "I said talk to me d**n it, or else I'm gonna throw you into the fire!" she snapped. Just then, Chucky's face started to move unlike it had before. Then he started to flail around in Karen's arms!-_ Everyone gasped and covered their mouths! Shadow covered Chris' ears for what was to come. Chris was surprised, but didn't do anything. _\- "You stupid b***h! Ya filthy slut! I'll teach you to f**k with me!"_ was what everyone heard as Chucky started to hit, and bite Karen in the movie!

Shadow uncovered Chris' ears after the cursing was done. "Thanks, Shadow…" was all he could say. Shadow smiled.

Later, near the end of the movie:

 _Andy had decided that this was the right thing to do. So, he quickly rushed over to his struggling mother who was trying to keep Chucky from escaping his fireplace prison. Andy had lit a match by scraping it across the brick frame of the fireplace. Chucky noticed this. "Andy, no! Please…" the doll said as innocently as possible, "We're friends till the end, remember?" Andy looked down at him with a cold expression, and said just one thing: "This is the end, friend." Then, he dropped the match into the fireplace, making the flames roar!_

Shadow clapped slowly. "That… was an awesome line!" he exclaimed. Everyone else agreed.

Soon, the first movie was over. Chris had wide blue eyes. "Wow… That was a cool movie!' he exclaimed, clapping. "When was this movie from?" Tails asked Chuck. "1988" was his reply as he started to put the second movie in. "Wow! This movie had a lot of cool, realistic effects for a movie from that time." Tails said in a tone filled with awe. Shadow rolled his eyes. "You know this movie was made by the studio that brought us "Gone with the Wind" and "The Wizard of Oz", right?" he asked with a skeptic tone in his deep voice. Everyone looked at him again. "Really?" Chris wondered, and Shadow nodded. "Huh… Interesting…" Chris said.

So, they spent the rest of that morning watching the Child's Play movies. Soon after Curse of Chucky, everyone fell asleep where they sat. All except for Shadow, who decided to carry them all to their beds. He sighed and just walked up to the guest room where he was sleeping. "That was… actually very nice." he said before laying down and drifting off to sleep.

* * *

Done! I've been into Child's Play for a while now and I thought that it'd be cool to put it into this chapter. Sorry if it was too short, I have too much writer's block.

Shadow: You do realize of course that you'll have to bring up the rating on this story a little bit, right?

Yeah, yeah, I know…

R&R!


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4: Helen's Birthday Party

Chris came home from school, happy about something. Shadow was the first to notice, and asked him, "Why are you happy?" Chris smiled and pulled something out of his pocket. It was a small envelope with a heart for a seal. "What's that?" Sonic asked, finally noticing him. "It's an invitation," Chris explained, "to Helen's birthday party!" Everyone stood up and started talking at once.

'Wow! That's great!"

"Can we come too, Chris?"

"Sure, why not?"

The entire time they were all merrily talking, Shadow just said, "Hmph." and turned away. "Hey, Shadow?" Chris asked. He turned his head towards the ginger boy. "Hm?" he said. "You wanna come?" he asked. Shadow shrugged his shoulders and said, "I don't really care…" in a monotone voice. Chris looked sad at him. 'Wonder what his problem is?' he wondered.

The next morning was the day of the party, and Shadow was still pondering about whether or not he should go. He knew it would make Chris happy if he went, but he had his own feelings as well. He heard a knock at the door. "Come in." he said. The door opened revealing it to be Cream. "Mr. Shadow, we're going to the party, wanna come?" she asked in her high pitched voice. Shadow looked at her with emotionless eyes. "No, just go on without me." he droned, lying his head back down. Cream looked upon him with a sad look. She was still very young, so, she couldn't really understand him and his reasons for not wanting to go. However, she still sensed that something was wrong. "Mr. Shadow, are you alright?" she asked, taking a step closer. Shadow turned his head back at the rabbit. "Cream… why are you being so worried about me?" he droned to her. Cream opened her mouth to speak, "Because… doesn't everyone deserve a friend?" she asked. Shadow didn't reply, just laid silently, waiting for her to leave. However, she didn't leave for a while. "Please come…" she tried again. Shadow didn't answer. Cream sighed in defeat and left.

Shadow listened as Cream's soft footsteps left the room and the door creaked and shut afterwards. He felt something tug at his heart. 'Did I do the right thing?' he wondered, flipping over on his back. 'Pushing her away?' He stared up at the ceiling, deep in thought. He sighed. 'I must be tired or something… Feeling this way must mean that.'

Meanwhile…

Everyone got dressed up all nice and junk, and headed over to Helen's. Cream looked out the window of the large car and sighed. "Cream, are you okay?" Tails asked the young rabbit. "Not really," she answered in a sad tone. "Wanna talk about it?" Tails offered. "Sure," she said with indifference. She then told him about how Shadow didn't wanna come and all that. "Well, that's just Shadow." Tails assured her, "Maybe he'll warm up to the idea of hanging out one of these days. After all, he did say that he would try and make friends with us." Cream looked into his blue eyes and smiled. "Yeah, I guess you're right."

They arrived at the party right on time. There were balloons, streamers, and confetti decorating the outside, and that was not the only cheerful thing about it. There also was party music playing. It was Miley Cyrus' "Party in the USA". Everyone got out and marveled at the decorations. "Wa-hoo! Let's party!" an excited Sonic cheered. Everyone cheered with him and rushed for the party.

Chris saw Helen in her birthday dress she was talking about, and boy, was it cute! It was a pink dress with Hello Kitty and bows all over it. Chris walked over to Helen and smiled. "Hey, Happy Birthday, Helen!" the ginger boy said. She giggled. "Thanks, Chris. I'm so glad you could come." the blonde girl said. "Yeah, me too. So, how's it feel to be 13?" Chris asked. "Honestly, kinda scary. I'm a teenager now, and that means things will be a lot different." Helen answered truthfully. Chris smiled reassuringly at her. "Don't worry, I'll always be here. And so will Francis and Danny. We'll all be here." he said, hugging her. Helen blushed and hugged back.

After they hugged, Helen put on her party face.

"Let's party!~" she rolled away to the food table. Chris laughed. "She certainly cheered up."

Meanwhile…

Shadow was still back at Chris' house, unable to figure out why he was feeling so weird. Maybe he felt guilty? He remembered how bad he felt when Maria died. He felt like it was all his fault, even though it wasn't. This wasn't as bad as that feeling, but it was up there. Maybe he should've gone? He lifted his head up and put on a determined face. "Okay… I'll go!" he exclaimed, jumping off of his bed. He looked out the window and saw the Thorndyke vehicle gone. He sighed and groaned. "Great… I don't even know where her house is!" He should've just gave up and laid back down, but he wasn't going to! He was never gonna give up ever again. Besides, he wanted to see Helen again. Not just because she looked like Maria, but also because she was so nice and kind like her. He wanted to be able to keep his promise and make friends like Maria wanted him to.

He chaos controlled outside in the driveway. He remembered that it had rained last night and the car had left some tire tracks that would most likely lead him to Helen's house. But he had to move fast or the tracks would dry up. He took in a deep breath and dashed off, following the tracks.

Meanwhile…

Helen looked around at her party guests but she didn't see the one hedgehog she wanted to see. She rolled over to Chris who was talking to Sonic. "Hey, Chris?" she said, getting the ginger boy's attention. "Yeah?" Helen shifted her blue eyes away then looked back up at him. "Where's Shadow?" she asked. Chris bit his lower lip in shame. "He didn't wanna come… He just doesn't like parties, I guess." he explained, shrugging. Helen looked down with sadness. "Oh…" she said quietly.

Suddenly, there was a knocking at the door!

Helen smiled and said she'd get it. She rolled herself over to to the door and turned the knob. She backed her chair up as she opened up the door. When she rolled forward to see her guest, she gasped in shock as she saw it was none other than Shadow! "Huh? Why are you here?" the blonde girl asked. "What, I'm not invited?" Shadow asked, cocking an eyebrow. "N-No, it's not that. It's just, Chris told me you weren't coming." Helen answered, rolling back so he could enter the house. "Well, I wasn't, because parties aren't my thing. But then I kind of decided to come anyway." Shadow explained, keeping his arms crossed. Helen raised an eyebrow at the ebony hedgehog and stared at him for a little while. Then she smiled and wheeled over next to him. "Well, as long as you're here now, I guess that's all that matters!" the birthday girl gushed. Shadow was silent before smiling a little bit and nodding. "Come on, everyone would love to see you here!" Helen said, motioning for him to follow. Shadow was a bit hesitant at first, because they were going to an area with a bunch of people, but then had an idea. "C-Can you stay by me, Helen?" he asked nervously. Helen's mouth gaped for a little bit before her lips curved into a smile and she nodded. "If that'll make you feel comfortable, then yes." Shadow smiled and followed the blonde, blue-eyed girl into the party room.

Meanwhile…

Sonic was trying to do impressions to make everyone laugh, and to him it was working. But what they were really laughing was how much of an idiot he made himself look like. He was just doing a George Clooney impression when Helen announced she was back in the room. Everyone was about to greet her happily, when they noticed Shadow next to her. This made them murmur instead, and this worried Shadow. "W-What are they all staring and whispering at?" the ebony and crimson male asked. Sonic chuckled and took a step towards his ebony twin. "Maybe they're all talking about you, Shadow!" he joked. "Me? Why would they be staring at me? _You're_ the one with an ugly face!" Shadow joked in a snide tone. Sonic's emerald eyes shrunk in shock and a vein popped out of his forehead. "What was that about my face?!" he demanded, pointing at the ebony hedgehog. Everyone laughed at the two bickering hedgehogs, including Helen.

But before Sonic could punch Shadow in the face, someone came in the room with an enormous cake! It was so big and yummy looking! Shadow eyed it but tried to contain himself for as long as he could. "Who's the birthday girl?!~" the person holding it asked, setting it down on the table. Everyone cheered out Helen's name and clapped for her. Helen blushed as she wheeled up to the table where the cake was. "Aw, you guys have already done so much for me, I don't know what to say!" the blonde girl said happily. Chris approached his friend and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Just say you love it and we'll sing Happy Birthday to you, Helen." the ginger boy said. Helen looked up at Chris and smiled happily at him.

So, they all did just that, and everyone cheered as Helen had blown all thirteen candles out in one blow. Shadow clapped loudly enough for Helen to hear but also quiet enough so no one else would hear.

"I'm surprised,"

Shadow's ear twitched and he looked to his left side to see who spoke to him. It was actually Sonic. "What the heck do you want, faker?" Shadow asked the azure hero in a flat tone. "I thought that parties weren't your thing, Shadz. But here you are, attending one!" Sonic explained, throwing an arm around the ebony hedgehog. Shadow grunted in annoyance at this gesture but remained unmoving. "Well, what could I do? She reminds me a great deal of Maria, you know?" Shadow pointed out. "Plus, it's the nice thing to do," he added. "Well, for whatever reason you decided to come, I'm glad you did!" Sonic said in a perky tone. He then patted Shadow's back and joined the others for cake.

Shadow watched as his rival walked over and talked to Helen. He observed the whole scene while thinking of Sonic's, Cream's and Helen's words that had been said to him. About how everyone needs a friend, how he decided to come even though he didn't want to, and how Helen said she'd remain by him as much as he wanted her to. This all made him smiled and walk over to join in on the party.

'Me too…'

* * *

Done! Man it's been a long time since this story was updated. Sorry, writer's block!

Shadow: Stop being lazy!

R&R!


End file.
